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If you haven’t been paying attention to the socks you wear with your sneakers, now’s a really good time, for this guide could save you from becoming a fashion disaster.

Nobody cares about your heat kicks if you don’t know how to dress them right. By this, we’re talking about the socks you rock with your sneakers. In this guide, we’ll cover how you should wear your socks and the various types that you can pair with your kicks.

It’s quite simple, really. Here’s a rule of thumb for all sneakerheads: You either go “down low” or “up high”. What that means is that your socks are either hidden within the sneaker or pulled up to cover your calves without exposing any skin. Going for the middle ground will attract stares and strange looks. Here’s what we mean:

This is cool.

This isn’t.

The socks-and-skin combo might work for some, but 95% of the time it just doesn’t. Secondly, for those who have bigger calves than usual, we suggest you go down low with your socks because you certainly do not want to look like this:

Now, let’s dig deeper into the different type of socks you should be wearing. To achieve the “down low” look as mentioned above, you can either not wear any (which we highly forbid, because, you know, stinky feet and blisters) or you get yourself a pair of “no-show” or invisible socks like these:

Pair no-show socks with a pair of jogger pants to expose those ankles

We recommend that you get yourself plain ones with no graphics or branding since they’re “invisible” anyway. You can find excellent pairs at UNIQLO that cost just S$15 for a pack of three. They even feature rubber strips at the heel area which will prevent them from slipping down. This is something you should pay attention to when choosing your invisible socks because it can really be a pain in the a** when you have to pull them up every few minutes. Trust us on this.

Next we have the classic black and white crew socks mostly worn by our normcore folks or summer slider lovers. The key to looking good with these socks is making sure that branding must be visible and maintaining brand integrity. In other words, do not wear your Air Jordans with a pair of adidas socks.

Classic socks: Can’t go wrong with them, just make sure the branding matches the shoes

Lastly, there’s a range of socks that have saturated the sneaker scene in the past year. They’re called graphic socks, and like the name suggests, they feature graphic prints from subtle geometric designs to the more outrageous pictures of your favorite basketball players or emojis. Brands like Stance, HUF, Happy Socks and Psockadelic have been producing such socks so there’s plenty to choose from.

Tip: Do not wear these socks with shorts unless you’ve got a skater vibe or if you’re a female. If you’re the average Joe like us, do yourself a favor and wear them with pants.

Stance Socks via stance.com

Stance Socks via stance.com

Stance Socks via tumblr.com/camerongardnerphoto

Psockadelic Socks via tumblr.com/grandeuroceanside

Your best bet is to buy a bunch of no-show, plain and graphic socks to add versatility to your wardrobe. Try it today and let us see how it looks by tagging #StraatSocks on Instagram!